Posts Tagged ‘IPL’

According to BCCI sources, Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif who represented the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League tested positive in the drug tests conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Mohammad Asif

Earlier, the name of the tainted cricketer was not disclosed but BCCI sources revealed to CNN-IBN that the Asif is the player that flunked the drugs test. Later, the reports were conformed as the IPL released an official statement on the issue.

According to an IPL release, the “DLF Indian Premier League compared the result from the WADA-approved laboratory in Switzerland with the data collected by IDTM, the Sweden-based independent agency which organized the anti-doping testing in accordance with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards, to confirm the player in violation is Mr. Mohammad Asif”.

“It was also checked if Mr. Md. Asif had applied for and was granted a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). It was found that Mr. Md. Asif had not applied for a TUE. A note in writing has been sent to the player and his home board and to the franchisee on the findings,” the release added. The TUE refers to exceptional circumstances where an athlete has used the certain drug, with a approval of the WADA.

The release also added that Asif has been informed that his urine sample had tested positive. He has the right to request that the B Sample (supplied by him at the same time as the A Sample which tested positive) be analyzed.

The release also says that in the even he asks for the B Sample to be tested, he he and his representative, along with an IPL representative, will have the right to attend the opening and analysis.

The release also says that once the results of the B Sample are received, it will be referred to the IPL Drug Tribunal, which consists of Dr Ravi Bapat, Sunil Gavaskar and Shirish Gupte, a leading lawyer.

The Tribunal will in due course follow the procedure as laid down in the Anti-Doping policy, the release added.

On Sunday, news broke that a cricketer had tested positive for drugs in the random tests conducted during the inaugural season of the IPL that ended on June 1, which was later confirmed by the IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi.

The IPL had sprang into action when reports from Pakistan suggested that fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was found carrying syringes in bulk on his way to India to participate in the competition to play for Kolkata Knight Riders. Organisers promptly announced random dope tests a month into the tournament.

Mohammad Asif, who along with Shoaib were ejected from the 2006 Champions Trophy after testing positive for a banned substance, was later detained at the Dubai airport for 19 days for alleged possession of opium while he was returning from India en route to Pakistan. Asif had played a pivotal part in Delhi’s run to the semi-finals of the inaugural competition.

Asif was released by the authorities in Dubai, but a PCB-appointed tribunal will soon begin its own inquiry into the matter.

WADA officials had taken random samples during the tournament, and it has confirmed that one player failed the test.

Modi on Sunday confirmed that there was indeed a positive dope test. “We have been conveyed by WADA. One player has tested positive, according to random tests conducted by a Swiss lab. We do not know who he is.”

Fourteen players were tested in all during the tests which got underway one month after the IPL began. “Two days ago the IPL received a letter from a Swiss agency, mandated by WADA, which said one sample had tested positive. The IPL will follow set procedures from now on,” Modi said.

Modi said that once the player is identified, he would have to produce a prescription to justify the use of the drug.

“The testing is done in two stages. If the player has a prescription, it’s okay and the process gets over in stage one. But if the first stage fails and the player does not have a prescription for the drug, he has to be present at the lab with an IPL official to authenticate. If result is positive, then the matter goes to the drug tribunal of IPL that includes lawyer Shishir Gupte, and Sunil Gavaskar,” Modi added.

In case that does not happen, the player is informed and a ‘B’ sample is sent for testing. If that, too, is positive the matter will be taken up by the IPL’s drugs tribunal.

The IPL Chairman explained that the results of the dope tests took time to come out because there isn’t a WADA-accredited laboratory in India. “The results take six weeks to come as there’s no WADA-authenticated lab in India. The samples are sent to Malaysia or Switzerland,” he said, adding: “I am not worried, we will stick to the procedure.”

The Indian Premier League is a money-spinner even for the government. The income-tax department, which collected about Rs 60 crore in 2007-08 from the tourney’s stakeholders, expects to collect between Rs 160 crore and Rs 200 crore in the current fiscal.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has also set up a committee to ascertain the taxability of the income that the franchisees generate by trading players.

The tax collected during 2007-08 was from five franchisees out of the total eight and three franchisees are yet to make payments to BCCI. Out of these five franchisees, three have made TDS at the rate of 11.33%, while two have paid at the rate of 2.33% and will pay additional tax later.

The internal panel would decide whether such income would be treated as capital gains or business income, CBDT member (revenue) Saroj Bala said. The collection from IPL franchisee is on account of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS). She said the TDS rate applicable in the case of payments made to players, coaches and umpires was 11.33% as per Section 194J of the Income-Tax Act.

The department would focus on collection through TDS in the current fiscal as there is an immense scope for growth, she said, adding it would help in achieving the revised direct tax collection target of Rs 3,95,000 crore for this fiscal.

Although TDS collections have been growing, she said, deductors were still ignorant about either the provisions or rates applicable. To address this situation, the department had undertaken a major initiative to educate the deductors and was organising workshops for them, she said.

“No punitive action is being taken so far. If training has been given to deductors, the department is only carrying out verification to ensure compliance. If it is found that training has not been given, then the department imparts training,” she said.

She highlighted that some central government departments, state governments and some public sector units were found not deducting tax at source due to ignorance. Citing the example of Rajasthan Vidyut Vitran Nigam, she said a large number of state electricity boards were also not deducting TDS.

The I-T department had collected Rs 51.3 crore from the utility in the last fiscal, besides Rs 299.39 crore collected from 10 cases. Certain airlines have also been found to pass commissions as discounts to their agents to avoid tax deduction. In some cases tax was not deducted on interest payments to non-residents.